CAST UP!

Technology: A Shift to the Normal

Our world has changed drastically during the last 100 years! Needless to say, I suppose. Thomas Horn summarizes the accelerated pace and rapid expansion of the technological innovations in our world and writes,

The eighteenth century began with horse-drawn carriages, kerosene and/or whale oil lighting, and a narrow understanding of biology. In fact, little had changed from previous centuries. However, by 1899, gas or electric lighting had turned night into day, coal heating had been replaced with natural gas, automobiles shared the road with horses, man took flight in air balloons, and genetics had emerged as a specialty within the burgeoning disciple of biology. The rate at which science and industry announced new discoveries and invention in the twentieth century outpaced the previous century like a hare racing past a befuddled tortoise (Beast Tech, p. 139).

To gain a bit of perspective on the technological growth during the past century, we need graphical representation. Notice how technology remains essentially unchanged through the centuries until the beginning of the 19th century, as Horn points out. The graph depicts explosive growth in technology ‒ growth that is accelerating, not diminishing.

Prior to our current period in history, no one ever considered the possibility of such momentous technological change. Possibly, a handful of persons who, because of their creative thinking and imaginative foresight (Leonardo DaVinci for example), may have had momentary flashes of what might be possible in the future. Nevertheless, any comprehension of the extent of technological advancement to come was not within anyone's sight. No one ever dreamed of flight at supersonic speeds. No one ever expected man could send machines into the far reaches of our solar system and take close up pictures of distant planets and cosmological formations (much less send men to the moon). No one foresaw computers that would be capable of unimaginative computing ability. For example, here is a quote concerning a recent description of the computing power of the fastest supercomputer: "A new supercomputer just passed a major milestone. It is the first to officially reach the "exascale." That means it can perform at least 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 calculations per second. You can simply refer to that as a quintillion calculations per second!" (Article can be read here.)

And the computing technology currently garnering the most attention is quantum computers: "Scientists predict that quantum computing has the ability to one day perform tasks millions of times quicker than even the most advanced supercomputer in the world today." (Article can be read here.)

But our technological explosion is not simply about super-fast computers and the end products consumers use, it is also about the underlying technologies that support such end products. For example, the ubiquitous cell phone sports computing power that outpaces previous supercomputers.

The CRAY-2 supercomputer was designed for the United States Departments of Defense and Energy, primarily to be used for nuclear weapons research and oceanographic development. Compare that to today's smartphones, which are about 5,000 times faster than the CRAY-2 and have democratized technology for everyone ‒ putting immense computing power literally in our hands and enabling previously unimaginable tasks." (Article can be read here.)

But what may be even more remarkable is the satellite technology and infrastructure behind cell phones, making cell phone capabilities even possible. The satellite technology might be considered a greater achievement than even the cell phone. Who could have foreseen these technologies and the world-wide implications it would have?

And yet, we have a strange dilemma.

The human dilemma

The dilemma is simply that people quickly take for granted the things that are around them. In other words, we become accustomed to anything that we are constantly exposed to. I suppose there is little need to provide a long list of things that we take for granted that are remarkable scientific achievements and once considered impossible.

Yet, if we were to make such a list we would include medical technology, the Internet and access to amounts of information incomprehensible only 30 years ago. We might toss in technologies in electricity, water purification, camera technology, car production and the energy to run those vehicles, time piece technologies, travel technology, money management technology, and entertainment technologies ranging from television to gaming to social media. In fact, our world and lives are so integrated with these technological marvels that we seldom consider their underlying technologies and the scientific achievements they represent ‒ it all has become so normal.

And there is the issue ‒ the dilemma. One of the most pronounced biblical indicators of the end of the age loses its force when the very sign becomes ubiquitous and considered simply a normal part of everyday life. In contrast, if we informed a person living 100 years ago what most of us now consider of little consequence, the individual might well question our sanity. If the individual was informed about our society's current level of increased knowledge, I doubt that person's perspective would be as ours. He or she might consider our level of technological knowledge as an indicator of Scripture's declaration.

Paradoxically, the ubiquitous nature of advanced technology in our society is expected and even a goal. Ronald Regan once gave a speech were he addressed a group of researchers and summarized this perspective, saying, "You on the cutting edge of technology have already made yesterday's impossibilities the commonplace realities of today." And Bill Gates too, observes that technology acts seamlessly in people's lives and is an overarching goal of technical innovation: "The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don't really even notice it, so it's part of everyday life." Science and technology and its integration into our lives seem even more successful when ubiquitous and regarded as normal.

But a big problem exists with this sort of thinking. The problem is that one of the Bible's most prominent warnings and indicators of the time of the end can be completely underappreciated or missed altogether due to our shallow perception of what has taken place.

And unfortunately, many people today do not appreciate and recognize the light the Bible shines on the period of human history we appear to be living. The result? For many the Scripture's warnings do not carry the weight it is due, if any at all.

Nevertheless, Daniel was informed of a general scenario that would exist during the time of the end: "Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be greatly increased" (Daniel 12:4 KJV).

Let's discuss a bit further what Daniel's indicator means.

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